Five
by Shadowsong1
Summary: After an odd letter from Zuko, Sokka travels to the Firenation to see what's going on with his old friend. Set ten years post-finale. Character death.


**Five**

**Disclaimer:** All characters are the property of their respective creators.

**Author's Note: **This is set ten years post-finale, give or take a few months. Canon couples are used. Sokka and Suki have been married for nine years, Zuko and Mai for eight, Aang and Katara for three.

* * *

><p><strong>Month Five<strong>

_Oh, one last thing. King Kuei was four when his father died, right?_

Sokka eyed the last line of Zuko's latest letter, frowning. _Why does he want to know that? More to the point, why is he asking _m_e?_

The rest of the letter was unusual, too. Aside from the last two sentences, it was more formally structured than Zuko's personal letters were, which made Sokka think his old friend was hiding something.

He tried to remember the last time any of them had actually seen Zuko in person. _Aang and Katara's wedding, three years ago? No, I think Aang's visited since then. But it's been at least a year_.

It would probably be a good idea to fix that. And sooner rather than later, especially if he was right and something really was going wrong with Zuko.

_I'll take Kya, she's around Risaki's age. And maybe the twins. Suki was talking about visiting Katara, and everyone knows I'm kind of useless around pregnant women. She can take Eiji, and I can visit Zuko at the same time_.

With any luck, he'd be wrong, and it would just be an opportunity to see Zuko and for their kids to spend some time together. But the odd, I'm-Totally-Not-Hiding-Something formality of the letter concerned him, especially since Zuko had told him once that he looked forward to personal letters as a place where he didn't _have_ to be so rigid.

Also, Risaki was somewhere around four.

That wasn't something Sokka relished thinking about.

* * *

><p><strong>Month Four<strong>

Sokka had been in the Fire capital for four days before he managed to corner Zuko alone. It had taken getting Aimi and Kya settled with Risaki and the three girls cheerfully trying to boss each other around, finding something for Amak to do that would keep him from picking on the girls, and managing to do so at a time where Zuko had a free hour or so.

Doing his best to avoid spooking Zuko's bodyguards, he dragged the older man over to his favorite part of the gardens.

"What's going on, Zu?" he asked, once he was fairly sure they could talk without being overheard.

Zuko blinked, and put on a very guarded expression. "What makes you think something's going on?"

"The weird letter you sent me? Asking about how old Kuei was when his father died? Plus some other things." Sokka frowned. "You've lost weight, you're not spending every day trying to juggle a million things you should be delegating-and don't say it's because of Risaki, because you were doing that last time I visited, which was after she was born."

Zuko didn't answer right away, and, when he did, he wouldn't meet Sokka's eyes. "It's probably nothing."

"If you really thought that, you wouldn't've asked me about Kuei."

He flinched, and flexed his left hand a little, staring down at it. "I've been having some...problems. Over the last few months."

Sokka sat down on the grass at the base of one of the trees. "What kind of problems?"

"Headaches, mostly. Nausea-that's why I've lost weight. My vision gets blurry. I have trouble remembering things without writing them down. And this." He held his left hand out straight in front of him, and Sokka could see it shaking. Once he was sure Sokka had noticed, he pulled it back.

"That's..." Sokka trailed off. "Do you know why?"

He shook his head. "Chang-the head of the infirmary here at the palace-can't tell me anything. Mostly, I've been focusing on keeping other people from finding out."

"I found out," Sokka pointed out.

"You know me really well, though. I mean, personally, not just professionally."

"Yeah, I guess," Sokka conceded. "But Chang thinks there is something seriously wrong?"

Zuko hesitated a moment, then nodded.

"Wow," he said. "This is...what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I don't know how much longer I can keep it secret. Once Risaki starts noticing..." Zuko trailed off, closing his eyes.

Sokka paused. "I could ask Katara."

Zuko shook his head. "No. She's pregnant. And I don't want Aang to know yet. Not until he has to."

"Okay." He thought another moment. "I could go up to the North Pole. Ask around with the healers there."

Zuko was silent for a while. "Please," he whispered, after a minute.

* * *

><p><strong>Month Three<strong>

Sokka had left Kya with Risaki, because both girls had begged, and brought the twins with him to get to know the customs of their sister tribe. It had taken a couple weeks of what he hoped were discreet inquiries, but he'd eventually managed to track down a healer who thought she could help.

Tuaq heard his description and pondered it for a few moments, fiddling absently with some beads at the end of one of her braids. "It could be a lot of things. I'd have to get an actual look inside your friend's head."

"How dangerous is it?"

"It's a problem with his brain," Tuaq said, very slowly. "Damage to the brain and heart are always dangerous, and usually deadly."

That wasn't what Sokka wanted to hear. "Can you fix it?"

"I won't know until I see exactly what's going on. And it's possible that even if I can fix the root problem, the damage will be too late to fully repair." She shrugged. "A lot of times, when brain problems start showing symptoms..."

More things Sokka didn't want to hear. "You'll come with me to see him, though?"

"Of course. When are you going to tell me who he is?"

"Once we're on the way."

Tuaq eyed him, then nodded. "Suit yourself. Just let me know when you're ready to leave."

* * *

><p><strong>Month Two<strong>

Mai was visibly suspicious of Tuaq when Sokka introduced her. With good reason, he had to admit to himself. Tuaq was a complete stranger who wanted to poke around in Mai's husband's head. If it had been Suki having problems...Sokka didn't think he'd be any more trusting.

"I still don't see why we can't contact Katara instead."

"All due respect, milady," Tuaq said, with a bite of impatience, "Lady Katara dropped out of healing training, never even getting the basic overview of the brain that older girls do. Never mind making illness and injury to the brain and spine her specialty. I have. And she could never be detached where your husband is concerned. Sometimes passionate personal involvement is helpful in a healer. Not when you're trying to fix your patient's brain."

"Besides," Zuko said, wearily, as if he'd made this point a hundred times himself. "She's pregnant. I don't want to risk her child, and I don't want to wait on this any longer."

Mai sighed. "Fine."

Tuaq smiled and bowed slightly in her direction, then pulled water from a pouch at her side and moved to stand behind Zuko. She rested it lightly on his left temple, crossing to the right, then the back, then again to the left, and back front, before spreading it in a thin layer over his entire head, murmuring to him to close his eyes. She left only his nose and mouth uncovered, so he could breathe. The water pulsed slightly under her hands, rippling to focus the light in one part or another. After about a half-hour, which felt much longer, she pulled back and returned the water to her pouch.

Zuko opened his eyes. "What did you see?"

"There's a growth, in your brain," Tuaq said flatly. "It's probably been growing for a while. It's about this big." She held out a hand to show him the rough size.

"Oh," Zuko said, after a moment of stunned silence.

Mai reached forward and took his hand. "What do we do now?"

"I could try to cut the growth out. That would stop things from getting worse, unless something goes wrong and more damage happens during the surgery. And it might come back, and you'd have to do it all over again. There's no way of knowing. And the surgery might kill you, too. I'm good, and I have removed growths before successfully, but never one this size from this location."

Zuko shivered a little. "What happens if we don't cut it out?"

"You will die." It was a simple, bald statement. "You might live six months, but more likely six weeks. The headaches and vision and memory loss will get worse and worse. You probably won't recognize your daughter at the end."

Zuko flinched and Mai glared at her.

"I'm being honest, sir," Tuaq said, but her voice softened a little. "I don't want you to fail to grasp just how serious this is. There are a lot of risks to letting me remove the growth, but it gives you a chance."

Mai started to answer, but Zuko squeezed her hand briefly, cutting her off. "We'll have to think about it. I'll let you know my decision as soon as I've made one. Thank you."

* * *

><p><strong>Month One<strong>

Zuko hadn't been to visit his father for two years. Ozai wouldn't budge on the questions he asked about his mother, or anything else, really, and he no longer felt a need to try to glean useful advice on governance from him without letting on that was what he was doing.

"Well. This is a surprise."

The cell hadn't changed much in the last two years. Still the same size, and roughly the same layout-he knew his father liked to change things around once in a while, but he'd likely moved things and then moved them back at least once since Zuko's last visit.

"I know it's been a while." Zuko paused, unsure of what to say next. "I know we haven't had the...best of relationships, and at least part of that is my fault. Don't interrupt me. I just...wanted to make sure that...there are some things happening. And if they go badly, I want you to look out for Risaki. I know you have contacts outside of here that I haven't identified, and you might be able to..." He trailed off, unsure of exactly what to ask.

Ozai's eyes narrowed, and he didn't say anything.

Zuko sighed. "Never mind. Forget it." He turned and walked away.

* * *

><p>Zuko had spent the last several hours locked away with his uncle, his wife, and the three others he'd decided to name as members of Risaki's regency council, should things go wrong, when he sent a note to Sokka, asking him to drop by.<p>

Sokka tapped on the door of Zuko's study.

"It's open."

"Hey." Sokka pulled the door shut behind him. "You wanted to talk to me?"

Zuko looked up. "Yes." He picked up a stack of papers, held together with a red ribbon and his personal seal. "I want you to hold on to these. They're the...usual things. Will, statement of succession, official appointments for all the members of the regency council, and so on."

Sokka blinked. "Why are you giving these to me?"

"I...do trust the people on the council. Especially Mai and Uncle. But...things happen. I couldn't exactly pick people with _no_ desire to rule, or none of the hard decisions would get made. And...Risaki's so little..." He took a deep breath. "I wanted copies with a trusted outsider, too. Just in case. And there's a letter for Izzi in there. I want you to give it to her when she's ten, and starts participating, at least by observing the council."

"Okay," Sokka said, a little reluctantly, and took the letters.

"I finally told her. A few days ago."

"How'd she take it?"

Zuko slumped into his chair. "Not...well. She hasn't spoken to me since."

"I'm sorry, man."

Another short pause. "And I did write the others, to let them know what's going on."

"Finally," he muttered.

Zuko shot him a look. "You know why I didn't-"

"Yeah, and I still think that was a dumb decision. They're your friends. They could've helped."

"Daddy?"

Zuko jumped, and immediately pushed past Sokka to open the door. Risaki was standing there, clinging to a stuffed hedgedog. "Izzi."

Her lower lip wobbled a little, and Zuko scooped her up. "It'll be okay, sweetheart..."

She buried her face in his shoulder. Sokka quietly inched past the two of them. This was something they should have alone.

Zuko briefly looked at him over Risaki's head and mouthed, "I'll see you after."

Sokka nodded and slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Tuaq put him to sleep for the surgery. He never woke.

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue: Five Years Later<strong>

Sokka, with his wife and all five of his children, was back in the Firenation for the first time since Zuko's funeral. Firelord Risaki was turning ten today, and he had promised Zuko, all those years ago, to give her that letter.

Everyone was here, to celebrate this milestone, of Risaki starting to take part in her own government. Toph, recently named King Bumi's heir in Omashu, Aang and Katara and Tenzin...even Teo, Haru, and the Duke had managed to find the time to come. There had been some snarls with members of her council trying to take power from the others, but it fortunately hadn't exploded into the kind of civil war that Zuko had had to deal with in the first couple years of his reign.

Risaki approached him in the confusion of the official celebration. "It's good to see you again, Uncle Sokka," she said. She was a quiet, very serious little girl-much more so than his own Kya, who was only a year older. "I've missed you."

He flushed a little. "I'm sorry I haven't visited much."

She smiled slightly, and nodded. "I get why." She considered a minute, then took his hand. "I want to show you something."

He blinked, but let her lead him outside, to a pond in a secluded area of the palace gardens where a family of turtleducks was swimming around. There was a little memorial at the base of the tree.

"He's not really here, of course," she told him quietly. "His ashes are in the Hall of the Ancestors, with all the other Firelords. But Mamma thought he'd be happy here, so...we made this."

"Wow," Sokka breathed. He shook himself, and pulled the letter out of his pocket. "He wanted me to give you this, when you turned ten."

She nodded. "Thank you," she whispered, taking the letter and bowing her head. "I don't remember him very much."

"I could tell you stories sometime."

"I'd like that."

They stood in silence for a minute, Sokka staring at the little memorial, Risaki staring down at the letter.

"I should get back," Risaki said, slipping the letter into her sleeve. "You can stay here as long as you like."

He nodded, and listened to her walk away, still looking at the memorial.

"I miss you, man," he finally said. "What Aang said, at the funeral, about the world being a little colder and a little less bright without you...he was right. Your kid's great, and I wish you could've met Tenzin, and Ryota, my youngest. Toph's going to be Queen in Omashu someday, too." He bowed his head and closed his eyes. "I just...wish you could see it all."

_Fin_

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I did do some basic research on brain tumors, but it was largely contained to Wikipedia. so I apologize if I got some details wrong. As for official Cause of Death, Zuko had a stroke a couple days after the surgery. The regency council he put together was a mix of civilian, military, secular, and religious authorities. Both Mai and Iroh were members, and the other three were one of the Sages, an active military officer of high rank, and a long-standing civilian minister who served under him, his father, and his grandfather.

Sokka and Suki's five children are, in age order, Amak and Aimi (eight when Zuko dies), Kya (six), Eiji (three), and Ryota (born about a year later). Risaki is five at this time, and Tenzin is born a few weeks after Zuko's death. Toph has no children within the boundaries of this story.


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